At Home
by Jlee
Summary: The title sucks, I know. Anyhoo, a one-piece fic on a dinner with the Marauders and a pregnant, highly moody Lily. Doesn't that sound fun?


_Author's Note: Yes I realize I have, like, two other fics aside from this one. But I'm hardly getting any reviews on them and with no reviews, I get discouraged and don't continue on. 'Less I get a sudden streak of inspiration which comes along — oh, once in a blue moon. Anyway, I was reading some old Marauder fics and thought it'd be nice to have my go at it. But Merlin knows I can't even finish a fic so I decided to make it a one-piece kinda thing. Anyways, the time is set years after the lot had left Hogwarts. Lily is five months pregnant and in a major mood swing overdrive, James and the rest are just as they'd always been. Though I wrote it as though James hasn't seen them for a while, which makes sense if you think about it. They wouldn't very much stick around with James all the time, 'specially if he's married and has an expectant wife. So yeah, pretty much the gist. Oh and no, I do not own any of these people. If that were true — well, then the books would probably be pretty crappy._   
  
  
  
"Out of my kitchen! Out!" Lily proceeded to shoo her husband out of the kitchen, closing the double doors with a snap.   
  
"Lily," James shouted through the doors. "Lily — you're five months pregnant! You're supposed to _relax_."   
  
"I _will_ relax if you stay out of my kitchen!" hollered back Lily. James could hear the sounds of pots and pans and the knives chopping something that smelled like garlic.   
  
"Don't wear yourself out," he told her, leaning against the doors. "Multi-tasking charms are tiring."   
  
The doors suddenly slid open and out popped Lily's fiery red head. "You leave the food to me, James Potter. Just go wait for your friends, okay?" She gave him a little peck on the cheek and closed the doors again.   
  
With a great sigh of defeat, he stuck his hands in his pockets and moved to the living room. Almost immediately after his bum makde contact with the soft armchair, knocking, shouting, and laughing could be heard from the front door — all of whom James knew came from Sirius.   
  
He opened the door to see Sirius, in a position suggesting he was just about to knock and yell again; Remus, a few feet behind Sirius and shaking his head apologetically at James; and Peter, a wide grin spread across his face.   
  
James grinned, stepping back to welcome the three into his home. Almost immediately Sirius had gone off into a couple of "oooohs" and "ahhhs". James, still grinning, shut the door and leaned against it, watching his old friends survey his house. As crazy as they were, he loved them. The best friends a guy could have, he thought to himself.   
  
His thoughts were cut short, though, as he saw Sirius advancing for the kitchen.   
  
"Sirius — " But James never got to say the rest of his warning. Sirius had opened the double doors with a yell of "SURPRISE!" to Lily, who let out a yelp of shock, making her drop the mashed potatoes she had been working on.   
  
Uh oh, James thought to himself. Remus seemed to have noticed the coming outburst as well, for he began to take small steps away from the kitchen. Peter just looked on with interest.   
  
"SIRIUS BLACK!" screeched Lily, her face turning as red as her hair. "OUT!" She gave Sirius one mighty push (she was really very strong for someone her size) and shut the doors again.   
  
Sirius, sprawled over the floor, quickly got up and brushed himself off, raising a brow towards the kitchen's direction. "How many months has it been, Prongs?" asked Sirius.   
  
"Five next week," replied James, hiding his glee to be called that again.   
  
Sirius, nodded, took a comfy seat on the couch. "You have my pity then," he said, closing his eyes as the cushions gently massaged his back. Peter followed suit, letting out a sigh of relief as the cushions proceeded to massage him as well. Remus, however, stayed where he was, smiling gently at James, who chuckled to himself. There were the same as they had always been, he thought. Crazy, sarastic Sirius with his wild ideas; Quiet and sensible Remus, his usual polite composure about him; and Peter, always happy and eager for anything. How he had missed them...   
  
"What's wrong with you?" asked Sirius. James, unknowing to himself, had been staring at the three with a kind of dreamy smile on his face.   
  
"Oh — nothing," he said. "Just reminiscing."   
  
"Awe," said Sirius, puffing up his lips into what he thought was a baby pout. Here it comes, James thought. "Missed us that much, didja?" Sirius promptly batted his eyelashes, pretending to blush.   
  
James, rolling his eyes, took his seat at his armchair, motioning Remus to take the one across him. "Can you blame me for wanting to have someone else to talk to?" he said, his voice low so Lily couldn't hear and explode again. "I mean, Lily's great. Merlin knows I love her — " At this part, Sirius instantly faked a gag. " — But it's nice to have the Marauders back."   
  
The four exchanged smiles. They all agreed silently, and laid back against their seats, letting the chairs massage them. That was short-lived, however, for Lily had come bursting out of the kitchen, fuming. Literally.   
  
"Lily!" shouted James, jumping up from his seat. The other three followed suit. "You're — you're on fire!"   
  
And she was. Her skirt had apparently caught on fire — though she didn't seem to be bothered by it a bit. Irritably and almost lazily, she pulled out her wand and put the fire out. But the fire wasn't what she was enraged about.   
  
"Butter!" she spat, glaring at James — much to the amusement of the other Marauders. "You forgot to buy the butter!"   
  
James, still not quite used to her mood swings, put his hands up as a sign of surrender. "But I did, love," he said, catching Sirius fake another gag.   
  
"_No_, you bought me _margarine_." She paused to let James realize how he had completely ruined her custard cake desert. James, however, looked lost. She growled, angry that her husband was incompetent enough to buy margarine instead of butter and stomped off into the kitchen again.   
  
James stared at the doors for a moment, before turning to the amused faces of his friends. Sirius looked torn between a look of pity or bursting out in laughter. Remus looked mildly impressed and had his usual small smile. Peter — well, Peter looked as he always did, eager and rather fidgety.   
  
He fixed the three with a look of complete confusion and shrugged.   
  
"Women," they all said together, then smiled at their great timing.   
  
The moment was ruined, however, by a loud crashing noise coming from the kitchen and Lily emerged again, swearing like her life depended on it.   
  
"Why Mrs. Potter, such language!" said Sirius, wide-eyed and impressed. "I'm so proud." He made a move as if to hug her but she sent him a menacing glare making him stumble halfway.   
  
"Dare I ask what's wrong now?" said James, looking at her cautiously.   
  
"Don't tell me he got you _creamed_ corn!" said Sirius, putting his hand to his mouth in mock surprise.   
  
Lily ignored that comment (along with the sniggers from Remus and Peter that followed). She turned to James and placed her hands on her hips. "The baby kicked!" she said, outraged.   
  
The four men looked at each other, then looked back at Lily, bewildered.   
  
"Correct me if I'm wrong," said Remus, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, "but I thought that was supposed to be a good thing."   
  
"Not if he makes me drop my yams!" said Lily, turning to Remus and glaring.   
  
James was glad that Lily had taken her eyes off of him so he could roll his eyes. "Hon — " ("Oh stop with all the mushy pet names already!" groaned Sirius.) " — Are you sure you don't need any help in there?"   
  
Lily turned to him again, her eyes full of tears. He stared at her wide-eyed and shocked. "Oh James!" she said, and flung her arms around him, weeping into his shoulder. James stood there, stunned, patting her back weakly. He looked around at his friends for help, but they too looked stunned and speechless.   
  
Lily pulled herself off of him and wiped her brilliant green eyes. "I'm so lucky to have a caring husband like you." She sniffled and stared up at him, smiling proudly. Then suddenly her expression changed and she was once again glaring. "But if you step one foot inside my kitchen I will hex you to Egypt!" With that she stalked off again, muttering angrilly under her breath.   
  
Once agan the men were left to themselves, very much confused. They sat back down on their seats, half-expecting Lily to come rampaging in again.   
  
"Women," Sirius repeated. "I'll never understand 'em."   
  
"Didn't stop you from datng 'em," said Remus, smirking.   
  
"You didn't need to understand 'em to snog 'em," said Sirius, his thoughts trailing back to a Miss Laura Bonns, a luscious little treat with whom Sirius had had a fling with in his fifth year at Hogwarts.   
  
Remus shuddered at this, remembering all too well of Sirius' little 'flings'. Peter, however chuckled. James merely shook his head.   
  
"Too bad you settled down, Prongs," said Sirius. "I heard that Veronica is quite a looker now."   
  
"Veronica? That piggy little Hufflepuff from 3rd year?" said James, his brows raised.   
  
"Not so piggy anymore from where I was standing," said Peter, grinning.   
  
"Wormtail and I saw her just before we got here," Remus explained. "She was distraught indeed when we told her you were married." This launched the four into a lovely little conversation about old girlfriends, crushes, and fans. They had only stopped when Lily came back, not to yell at James again, but to announce that dinner was ready.   
  
The dinner was as scrumptious as it was at Hogwarts. Lily had outdone herself to try and make it as perfect as it was when they attended. Merlin knows they all missed the castle. It held so many memories for them all.   
  
Sitting there, as he watched a hysterical Lily serve Peter with more mashed potatoes, Sirius devouring his turkey leg, and Remus sipping from his goblet, James had never felt more at home.   
  
  
  
_You made it this far. Might as well review. Ya know you want to._


End file.
